


Happy Blue Elf

by Dinolad



Series: Love Me for Me [1]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Crying, Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutilation, Past and Present, Unwanted Advances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-03 01:31:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinolad/pseuds/Dinolad
Summary: Sportacus just wanted to be normal





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idea from spobforpresident.tumblr.com 's post

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magnús Scheving is the owner of Lazytown and its characters. Company bought by Turner Broadcasting in 2011.

_Being the son of a hero sounded cool. Travel the world, go on grand adventures, save the day... The reasonable thing to do would be to leave a young child at home but unfortunately Sportacus’ mother was out of the picture. So the young elf was dragged from town to town while his father saved citizens and taught them how to be healthy. Most of the time Sportacus was left with the town’s children while his father ran off to do any dangerous activities. And despite him trying to hide it, they were obviously dangerous. His father was covered in old scars and would often limp when he returned to get Sportacus and take him back to their hot air balloon. Sportacus was aware he wasn’t supposed to know so he kept quiet._

_Meting new kids from towns all over the world was wonderful at first. The town’s folk where nice to him and it was fun to see how different humans lived. They often played games he didn’t quite know the rules to and even though he wasn’t always great at them there was always laughing and attention and Sportacus ate it up…until he started to get older. Then he realized the laughing was directed at him. The attention on his ears and his heavy accent, his strange clothing and his acrobatics. They picked games he didn’t know how to play just so they could laugh at him. He was a joke. In every town. Kid’s grabbing at his sensitive ears, pushing him around, calling him names. Sportacus wanted to go home, but there was no one there to take care of him. And his father’s work was important. So he suffered in silence. Resolved to keep it to himself, to not burden his already over worked father with his silly little problems. But maybe he should have said something. Anything. Then maybe he wouldn’t have…_

~~~

“Sportacus?”

“Huh? Oh, hello Stephanie,” Sportacus said as he looked down at his pink friend. His smiled didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“It’s my birthday this weekend and I wanted to give you this.” Stephanie handed her friend a pink envelope. “It’s a costume party. I invited Robbie too. I’m sure if you end up needing help he’d lend a hand. I buttered him up a bit for you.”

“Oh, thank you,” Sportacus looked at the glittery invitation. He supposed he should ask for help. He wasn’t really great at sewing. Also it would be nice to see Robbie. The villain had been less…villainous as of late and it gave the elf time to appreciate him and his many talents…and attributes.

“Are you okay?”

“What?” Sportacus asked, looking up from the invitation.

“You look kind of…sad? I, um. I don’t want to pry. You can talk to me you know?” Stephanie said, almost shyly. Sportacus smiled down at her, a full, real smile.

“I’m sorry I’m worrying you,” he said as he crouched down. “You know you can talk to me too right?”

“Yes…About anything?”

“Of course.”

“Well…I think that I might like someone- but don’t tell anyone!” Stephanie added in a hurry.

“Of course not. Do I know this person?”

“Maybe…”

“Well it’s up to you too tell them.”

“I’ll tell them when you tell Robbie.”

“What?” Sportacus asked, smile slipping from his face.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s fine. I just…I don’t know. I don’t want them to not be my friend anymore. If I told them. I’m afraid they might make fun of me and not like me anymore. They can be kind of mean sometimes, but not like… Not in a way that they mean it you know? More like for attention. I figure that’s why you don’t tell Robbie…It makes me feel a little better, knowing your scared too. I mean, I just want you to be happy, but it’s nice…”

“I understand what you’re saying. Look, we can be scared together, okay?” Stephanie smiled up at Sportacus, a little weak around the edges.

“Okay.” She said, swaying a bit before saying, “You go ask Robbie for help. I’m going to help…my special friend.”

“Right. Um, good luck.”

“You too,” she said before running off. Sportacus stood slowly, wondering if he really was that obvious.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Okay sonur, now I have to go but I want you to have fun and not worry about your Pabbi okay?”_

_“Yes Pabbi,” Sportacus said, kicking the dirt at his feet._

_“Are you excited to meet some new friends?” Sportacus nodded, forcing a smile and giving his father a long hug._

_“Be careful.”_

_“I will.”_

_Sportacus wondered over to the park finding a group of teenagers by the jungle gym. There seemed to be four of them and looked to be a little older than Sportacus. He hesitated a moment before slowly walking over. The tall one with dark hair captured his attention right away, he was beautiful._

_“Um, hello. My name is Sportacus. My Pabbi is working here for a few days.” Sportacus said, introducing himself in a quiet voice._

_“Your Pabbi?” The shorter of the two girls asked._

_“Can you understand what he’s saying, because I can’t?” Said the taller girl as she looked over to her friends._

_“He said he’ll be visiting a few days because his dad is in town working,” Said the tall, handsome boy._

_“How do you know that?” The taller girl asked, pushing her blond hair away from her face._

_“Watch his mouth while he talks.” He said before smiling down at Sportacus._

_“It’s kind of hard to focus on anything other than those big ears, look at them, they move like a cats.” The short girl said, pointing. Sportacus blushed as he felt his ear twitch._

_“Can I play with you?” Sportacus asked in an attempt to steer the conversation away from his ears._

_“Play?” The tall girl asked, looking the young elf up and down._

_“Yes,” the tall boy said as his other two friends said ‘no’._

_“Wait what?” asked the shorter of the boys._

_“Why not?” The tall boy said, winking at his friends. Sportacus smiled, face heating slightly as the tall handsome boy smiled down at him again. The young elf felt something flutter in his stomach._

_“Oh, yeah sure, why not,” the short girl agreed._

_“You want to play with me?” Sportacus asked._

_“Yes, very much,” The tall boy answered._

_“Well I’m out of here. I’m not fucking around with a freak.” The tall girl said, stomping off, blond hair swaying in the wind. Sportacus watched her go with a sad look on his face._

_“Don’t worry about her,” the short girl said, gently nudging Sportacus in the side._

_“She’s no fun anyway,” the short boy added. The handsome boy smiled at Sportacus again, white teeth bearing in a slightly unnerving manner. A weird feeling filled Sportacus’ stomach but he pushed it away. This was the first time in a long time someone wanted to play with him._

_“Let’s go for a walk. I know this nice quiet place in the woods we can play,” the tall boy said as he gently guided Sportacus to start moving with a big hand on his back._

_Sportacus walked up front with the handsome boy, a smile spread across his face. The boy chatted him up and Sportacus enjoyed the positive attention. The other two where trailing behind, whispering to each other. Curiosity got the better of the little elf and, while he knew he shouldn’t, he stretched his hearing so he could listen in._

_“Do you really think this this a good idea? I mean you saw his dad,” asked the girl._

_“I mean, he’ll only be here a few days and you saw how timid he is, he probably wouldn’t tell anyone. Besides, who’ll believe him let alone understand a word he’ll say,” The other boy added. Something filled Sportacus’ stomach heavy and thick. This wasn’t right. He needed to leave._

_“I-I think I need to go. I’m supposed to meet my Pabbi soon.” Sportacus said, turning around. He was met with the other two, who came up rather close to him._

_“Wait, we haven’t even gotten there yet,” that handsome boy said from behind him._

_“Yeah, you’re not going to run off and leave us hanging. I thought you wanted to be friends,” the other boy added._

_“I do,” Sportacus said._

_The tall boy came up to Sportacus, gently placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him around to face him. “Just calm down, we’re going to have fun, trust me,” he said._

_“I heard elves don’t have a gag reflex,” the other boy said._

_“We can find out,” The tall boy said._

_“Look, you’re a freak. If you hang out with us no one will bother you the whole time you’re here. But, we want something in return.” The girl said._

_“W-what did you want from me?” Sportacus asked, feeling the heat seep into him from the contact on his shoulder._

_“Have you ever given someone a blow job before?” The tall boy asked, smiling down at him._

_“What’s a blow job?”_

_“Well, you just get down on your knees and suck our dicks, well with Nancy it would go a little different.”_

_“No! I’m not doing that!” Sportacus said, pulling away from the boy’s hand._

_“Wow, didn’t think a freak like you would have any dignity,” the girl laughed._

_“Leave me alone!” Sportacus yelled. The tall boy flicked a delicate tip of the elf’s ear, Sportacus yelped and covered it, tears springing to his eyes. “Ow!”_

_“Look here, you little shit, we didn’t come all the way up here for nothing. Now get on your fucking knees before I-“ The tall boy began, but was swiftly cut off as Sportacus kicked him, hard, in the groin and fled._

_Sportacus ran until he couldn’t hear their yelling anymore. Until his lungs burned and he collapsed against the basket of the hot air balloon. He leaned against it, trying desperately to catch his breath. He let out a ragged sob, leaning forward and hugging his knees to his chest. He needed to get this out now, before his Pabbi came back. Sportacus had to think of a happy story to tell him. Something that would explain why he’d want to go to sleep right away but came off as fun. He just wanted to tell him what happened but if he did his Pabbi might quit his job. Pabbi loved his job._

_Sportacus sobbed into his knees, tears soaking into the fabric of his blue pants. His missed his mother even as he hated her. If she never left he would have been able to stay home, even if that meant not seeing Pabbi as much. But then this wouldn’t happen. He’d have friends at home, where people were like him and could understand him and didn’t call him a freak. Another sob ripped its way out of Sportacus and he allowed himself to fall to his side. He laid there, shaking, for at least an hour before he wandered off to clean himself up before dinner._

 

~~~

Sportacus hesitated at Robbie’s lair. The two have been getting along for the most part but he wouldn’t call them friends…even if he wanted to. Robbie liked to poke fun at the hero and his jokes could hurt sometimes even though Sportacus knew that wasn’t the intention. Or he hopped… Stephanie had said Robbie wouldn’t mind helping him. She was a smart girl and was very good at reading people. Either way it was worth a try. Sportacus couldn’t sew and he didn’t know where he could get a costume on such short notice.

“Are you just going to stand there? You know you’re loitering? On private property no less. Not very hero like if you ask me.” Came Robbie’s voice through a set of speakers. Sportacus jumped, caught off guard, before laughing it off awkwardly.

“Right, sorry Robbie. It’s just, Stephanie is having party and I don’t…have anything to wear. She told me to ask you.” Sportacus said a little too fast. There was a long moment of silence that had Sportacus fidgeting, he knew Robbie didn’t like it when he moved around too much and he didn’t want a reason to be sent away.

“She told you to come here?” Robbie finally asked.

“Yes. I can leave if you’d like.” Sportacus said, looking down to hide his embarrassment. 

“And allow you to make your own costume? No. That wouldn’t end well. It’d fall apart at the seams and you’d flash all of the kids. I’m a villain not a pedophile. Come down, I’ll take your measurements.” Sportacus smiled and jumped down into the lair, landing on his feet in front of the orange chair. “So. What did you want to be?”

“Uh…”

“You didn’t even pick an outfit out did you?” Sportacus blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head.

“No, I didn’t, sorry Robbie. I just talked to Stephanie a few minutes ago. I suppose I could be a fireman? I always thought they had an important job and they uh…have cool hats?” Robbie started at him a moment, face unreadable.

“Right,” Robbie said, drawing it out. “I’ll just get my tape measure and a note book…Don’t touch anything.”

“Of course!” Sportacus smiled as the villain wondered off. He looked around the lair taking note of the scattered machine parts that looked rather jagged for his liking.

“Arms out to your sides,” Robbie said as he came up behind the hero. Sportacus complied silently, searching for something to talk about. It was rather hard to think of anything other than Robbie’s arms circling around him as he took the numbers for his chest, waist and hip. The villain didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that he was practically hugging Sportacus over and over again. The hero could feel his face heating, it had been a while since anyone his age had touched him in any way. He decided to attempt to space out. It had started to work, until he suddenly found Robbie crouching in front of him, touching the inside of his leg.

“What are you doing?” Sportacus blurted out, a little too loud. Robbie looked up at him like he was crazy.

“Taking your inseam and outseam? You want your pants to fit right?” Robbie asked, eyeing Sportacus suspiciously.

“Yes! Right! Sorry Robbie.” Robbie grumbled something that Sportacus couldn’t quite hear about stupid blue idiots.

When he was finished, taking care to not get to close to certain areas and to avoid eye contact, Robbie hopped to his feet and reached for Sportacus’ hat. The hero jumped back rather far with a yelp.

“What are you doing now Sportaspaz?” Robbie asked, putting his hands on his hips in annoyance.

“Why are you trying to take my hat?” Sportacus asked, not moving any closer.

“I figured you wanted a fireman hat, you know, since you mentioned it and all?”

“I do.”

“Then come over here and let me measure your head.”

“Can’t you just…I don’t know, guess?” Sportacus asked a little timidly. Robbie was staring at him again. Sportacus frowned, of course he was annoying Robbie, he always annoyed him. The hero looked down at his feet, fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt. 

“Why are you acting so weird? I know you’re an elf and that elves have stupid ears-“

“They’re not stupid!” Sportacus yelled, looking back up at Robbie. Robbie looked slightly surprised but seemed to take advantage of the situation to actually annoy Sportacus.

“Yeah, they are. They’re super sensitive and are just hanging out in the open exposed to the elements. God sunburns gotta hurt. That seems like a design flaw if you ask me. They’re also very silly looking and it’s kind of weird how they move around like an animal.”

“Robbie…”

“What? It’s true. It’s it like taboo to touch them? I don’t know who would want to in the first place. But isn’t it some strange sex thing? You elves are so weird.” Robbie said, his face tinting a light pink.

“Robbie stop.”

“Your face is getting red so I take that as a yes about the sex thing. Just take the dumb hat off, I promise I won’t touch your gross elf ears.”

“No…” Sportacus said, crossing his arms and looking to the side with a pout. Robbie rolled his eyes and stanched the hat.

“Ha!-oh…Oh shit I-“ Robbie rambled, eyes wide with shock as Sportacus covered his ears with his hands.

“Robbie!”

“I-I-“

“Give me my hat back!” Sportacus yelled, eyes glassy with building tears. Robbie stuck his hand out, offering the hat up. The hero stanched it and ran. Robbie stood, staring at the wall.

“Shit.”


	3. Chapter 3

_He could do this. He was strong, like his Pabbi said._

_Sportacus headed to the park in the morning waving bye to his father, being sure to slow his strides. He waited until his father was out of sight before he headed back to their little camp by the balloon, being sure to avoid anyone on his way. Sportacus had a good few hours before his Pabbi was back for lunch and he was going to use it. No one would ever call him a freak again._

_It wasn’t hard to find his father’s fish gutting knife, having been left with the task in the past. Last night, when his father slept, Sportacus had sterilized it in the flames and then gently wrapped it in a towel before stowing it away. The young elf examined its sharp edge, catching his reflection in the now cold metal. Right, he needed a mirror. Something he could see himself in. His Pabbi shaved so that wasn’t too difficult either. He set himself up on the ground next to the basket of the air balloon, leaning the little mirror there._

_Taking in a deep breath and steeling himself Sportacus grabbed the tip of his left ear and winched. He could do this. He had to do this. Sportacus brought the knife up towards the long ear, hand shaking, and gently pressed the sharp edge to his skin._

_“Just do it!” Sportacus said through clenched teeth. With one final breath he pushed as hard as he could and sliced through the cartilage. Searing hot pain shot through him as blood poured from the wound. Sportacus covered his ear with his free hand and gasped desperately for air. Oh Gods he couldn’t! No. He had to. He was half way there he needed to finish. He let go of his ear and took the blade in his other hand, fingers slippery with blood on the wooden handle. Sportacus brought it up to his other ear, hand trembling, fueled by adrenalin. This time when he went to cut he hesitated half way, the knife slipping in his tiny hands. Screaming out Sportacus closed his eyes before tighten his grip and following through._

_Sportacus sat a moment, feeling the blood trickle down his face and neck, soaking into his shirt, before he opened his eyes to see himself. The knife dropped from his hand. It was horrible. They still didn’t look right. They weren’t round and the right side was jagged from his fumbling. Tears sprang to his eyes, running down his cheeks to mix with the blood. This was bad. He wasn’t strong enough to focus through the pain and now he looked worse than before._

_Sportacus felt weak. Head swimming, white flashing through his vision. He slowly crawled into the basket of the air balloon and laid on his back, a strange numb feeling filling him. The adrenalin was wearing off and he felt like he’d pass out. Sportacus knew he needed to do something about the bleeding, before that happened, so he forced himself up. Looking around he found the first cloth he could and haphazardly tied it around his head before covering himself with the blankets and bags. He didn’t want his Pabbi to see him like this._

_Sportacus didn’t hear his Pabbi coming. In fact he didn’t hear very much over his labored breaths, wrenching sobs, and the envelope of the air balloon swaying with the wind. He could no longer hear the birds twittering in their nest nor the squirrels fighting over their acorns. His hearing. Without the fine pointed shape he could no longer hear as far. His world muted to the balloon and the surrounding camp. The crackling of the fire just a few yards off sounding like a whispered tease._

_“S-Sportacus? Where are you?” Came his Pabbi’s shaky voice accompanied by a consistent beeping. He must have seen all of the blood. Would he be angry that the basket was covered in it? What would he do when he saw Sportacus’ ears? He couldn’t be angry right? He was only trying to fit in…But he messed it up. It hurt so badly. He wanted to both run to his Pabbi and stay hidden under the pile of blankets and luggage. “Oh Gods. Sportacus!” Pabbi’s voice shook, he could hear his frantic steps. Sportacus let out a loud sob and the steps stopped. “Sportacus? You’re here. It’s your Pabbi, please, everything is going to be okay. You can come out.”_

_“You’re going to be angry.” Sportacus sobbed, tears rolling down his fat little cheeks._

_“Please, son, come out.” Pabbi’s voice was right next to him now. Sportacus could tell because it was clear and crisp. With a deep breath the little elf sat up, pushing away the blankets. He could feel his ears still bleeding through his failed attempts at bandaging them up and his head swam with his movements. Sportacus looked up when he heard his Pabbi gasp, hand over his mouth, horror on his face. “Who did this to you?”_

_“I did…”_

_“Sonur…why?” Sportacus’ lip quivered as he looked up at his Pabbi’s sad eyes._

_“I wanted to be normal.”_  
~~~~

Sportacus was hiding under a tree, legs drawn up to his chest and face hidden in his knees, when he heard Robbie’s footsteps. Sportacus knew that the villain was too close at that point to sneak off unseen so he sat quietly and ignored his presence. Probably not the most heroic thing to do… He could feel Robbie’s warmth beside him as the man sat down. The elf hoped he was being quiet enough but his whimpers were loud to his own ears. Every harsh intake of air, every hiccup, loud enough to be overheard. Sportacus let out a sob, coughing as the air caught in this throat.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Robbie said. He sounded lost and it didn’t make Sportacus feel any better. “I’m an idiot. I didn’t- I was just trying to get a reaction. I shouldn’t have said all of those things about your- I…I didn’t- I don’t think…” Robbie sighed, shifting a little closer so their arms almost brushed together with the force of Sportacus’ sobs. “Look….I’ve already seen them, just, let me measure you. So you have a hat that fits over them comfortably and hides them well- Not that …I think you need to-but-I…I understand why you’d want to.”

Robbie waited quietly a while, watching Sportacus’ shoulders shake and tremble. Sportacus wasn’t going to answer though. He didn’t have anything to say to Robbie. At least nothing he wouldn't regret later. Really, he just wanted to be held while he cried…

“I mean,” Robbie started again, trying to talk over the whimpers. “I-I guess I don’t really. I don’t fit in but I never…I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me. I mean your ears, they don’t…bother me.”

“Of course they do, I saw you face.” Sportacus said, voice thick and hoarse from crying.

“I mean, yes, but… it just- I didn’t expect to see…that.”

“I know it's…” Sportacus’ voice dropped to a whisper, “disgusting. I-I was a freak before but now I’m a freak and an idiot.”

“Wait…did you…did you do that to yourself?” Robbie gasped. Sportacus turned his head, peeking up at Robbie. He gave a little nod. “Why?”

“I-I just wa-wanted to be normal!” Sportacus choked off on a sob.

“What?”

“But it was worse after that! No one would even play with me. My Pabbi brought me a hat and-and I felt so stupid. I never took it off…until I…” Sportacus hesitated, looking away from Robbie’s face.

“…You can tell me.”

“I-there was this guy and, I really liked him. A lot…and he, I guess, liked me….but not really. Because we, well we started to ki-kiss.” Sportacus said, hiding his face back against his knees, muffling his voice. “Then I- he took my hat off and when he saw my ears…well I-I never heard from him again.”

“He sounds like a dick,” Robbie stated simply. Sportacus looked up at Robbie, finally sitting up. “If he liked you he would have stayed.”

“Robbie, no one likes me.”

“The kids-“

“No- I mean…no one my age. They think I’m strange and get annoyed at my accent and when I ask them to repeat things when I can’t hear, or get angry when I don’t understand things and embarrassed by how I look and act and- but… When I go home the elves, they don’t like me because of what I did to my ears. I only have Pabbi but I don’t get to see him often.” Sportacus rambled, trailing off quietly at the end.

“Oh…”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t bother you.” Sportacus said, lip quivering. He looked down at his knees and the tears welled up at the corners of his eyes again, slowly slipping down and off his long lashes.

“Don’t be daft, where f-friends, we can talk…about…things.” Sportacus looked up at Robbie again, rubbing at his cheek with the back of a hand.

“You want to be my friend?”

“It’s not like there’s any other adults here that I-“ Robbie stopped himself at the sad look on Sportacus’ face. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Yes. I want to be your friend. You’re…You’re a nice…elf.”

“Ca-can I lean on your shoulder?”

“I guess, yeah, whatever.” Sportacus gently leaned his head on Robbie’s shoulder, staring at nothing. “It’s really not that bad. I understand why you’d want to cover them up but… You-if you’re ever in my lair…you don’t have to wear the hat. I’ll be your friend still.”

“Thank you,” Sportacus whispered.

“Also, I can make you more hats! And outfits if you’d like- not that yours is…bad, just if you wanted to change it up.” Robbie said as Sportacus snuggled into his side a little closer. “See, the other guy is missing out, I get to put you in a fireman outfit. You’ll look like a stripper.” Sportacus blushed bright red, covering his face with his hand.

“Robbie!”

“That fell out of my mouth. I didn’t mean to make it sound like-bad.”

“You think I’m attractive?” Robbie blushed to match Sportacus and started to sputter.

“What? NO! Yes! No… Of course I do! Look at yourself!” Robbie yelled, Sportacus ducked his head.

“Even with the ears?”

“I told you already, it doesn’t matter. Your ears are messed up, so what?” Robbie growled out. “I have an overbite, and I’m still extremely handsome.” Robbie finished. A small smile made its way onto Sportacus’ lips.

“Yes, I suppose you're right.”

“What?”

“Though the overbite is more cute.” Robbie blushed more.

“Lets…lets go make your outfit, wash your face off a bit.” Robbie said, the backs of his fingers gently stroking against Sportacus’ cheek, before he stood up. Sportacus followed, stretching his arms over his head. The villain dust himself off and straighten his vest as Sportacus wiped at his tear stained face with the back of his hand.

“I’m a mess…”

“Yes, a cute mess,” Robbie said, sounding a little forced, like he pushed it out despite really not wanting to. Sportacus looked up in surprise and Robbie grabbed his hand, leading him to the lair.


	4. Chapter 4

_His Pabbi bandaged his ears and Sportacus tried not to cry. He wanted to be brave but felt so scared. He trembled, exhausted from blood loss, as he tried to bite back his cries. When his Pabbi was done he pulled Sportacus into his lap, the young elf went willingly. His father gently brought a cup of juice to his son’s lips._

_“You need to drink. You lost a lot of blood sonur.” His father said, grip firm and eyes sad._

_“I’m sorry Pabbi,” Sportacus said, looking down, taking the cup and sipping it quietly._

_“No, sonur, don’t be. I’m sorry.” Sportacus’ Pabbi brought their foreheads together and gently touched them. “I should have been paying better attention. I did not want to think you were unhappy.” Sportacus leaned forward, hugging his father and finally letting himself cry._

_“I was happy. Everyone was just so mean. I just wanted to be normal.”_

_“Sonur, you are normal.”_

_“Not anymore…”_

_“Yes, you are. Sonur, someone will love you for you, to them your ears will be beautiful. No one else is worth your worry. You know I’ll always love you right?”_

_“Yes Pabbi.”_

_“You’ll always be my sonur.” Sportacus curled up in his father’s lap, trying to make himself as small as possible._

_“I’m sorry, you don’t have to quit-“_

_“No. Do not be. I want to be with you and I want you to be happy. I-I am sorry I didn’t realize how upset you were. I wasn’t doing my job as your father well enough.”_

_“Pabbi, I love you. Please don’t be sad.”_

_“I’ll try sonur.”_

~~  
Robbie was staring at him. The villain had prompted him to sit in the fluffy chair while he got him a glass of water and a wet towel to wipe his face with. But now he was staring at him. Like everyone else who saw his ears did.

“What?” Sportacus asked, fidgeting with his hat to ensure it was properly covering his ears.

“Nothing.” Robbie said, walking toward the chair. “It’s weird, seeing you unhappy.” He admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sorry,” Sportacus frowned down at the floor.

“No no no,” Robbie waved his hands at the elf. “You’re allowed to be upset. It’s normal.”

“Normal?” Sportacus asked, looking back up at the tall man.

“Yes. I’m upset all the time and I’m perfectly normal.” Sportacus looked skeptical but said nothing. “Hey, don’t give me that look.” Robbie barked rather weakly. A small smile finally formed on the elf’s lips. “…Why don’t you shove over?” Robbie suggested. Sportacus just started, eyes a little wide. “Stand up. You can sit in my lap. If you sit still that is.”

“You…want to cuddle?” Sportacus asked hesitantly, he could feel his face burning.

“If it gets you to sit still and smile.”

“I can try,” he almost whispered.

Sportacus sat in Robbie’s lap, legs hanging over the side, and curled up as best he could. He allowed himself to be maneuvered, surprised by the strength in Robbie’s arms. When the villain seemed comfortable enough Sportacus rested his head on the man’s shoulder. He began to slowly drift into sleep when he felt Robbie’s hand at the back of his neck, playing with the hairs there. Slowly the villain was coaxing the hat off. Sportacus was worried but Robbie seemed insistent. With a heavy sigh and bright red cheeks Sportacus pulled the hat off and was quickly rewarded with long fingers in his hair.

Robbie was quiet and Sportacus knew he was examining his exposed ear. It was the bad one and suddenly Sportacus wished he paid more attention when he sat.

“It’s not that bad,” Robbie said after a while.

“Yes it is,” Sportacus muttered back.

“If it really bothers you I could make a prosthetic.” Robbie gently tucked some of the lose strands of blond curly hair behind the elf’s ear so he could examine it better. His fingers where nimble and he was careful not to touch the sensitive appendage. 

“Robbie, please stop looking at it.” Sportacus almost whined, tucking his head under Robbie’s chin in a way that reminded the villain of a cat.

“Sorry,” Robbie went back to petting Sportacus. “Your hair is very soft.”

“You don’t have to pretend-“

“Shhh, I’m not. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what happened,” Robbie admitted. Sportacus took a deep breath, letting it out in a puff.

“I got tired. These kids took me into the woods and tried to make me…do things. And I-I guess I realized it was only going to get worse from there.” Sportacus’ breath caught as he felt Robbie’s arms wrap around his middle, squeezing him tight.

“D-did they hurt you? I mean obviously they did emotionally-“

“I kneed the one in the groin and ran.” Robbie smiled and brought one hand back up to pet the elf, leaving the other protectively over his middle.

“Good… You know. I know someone that could take care of them for you.”

“Robbie, it was like twenty years ago.” Sportacus said, a little worried for his new friend. Because that’s what they were right? Friends?

“Right, um, what …happened then?”

“The next day I did…this. If my Pabbi’s crystal didn’t’ go off I …I could have died. I lost a lot of blood.”

“Do you still have feeling in them?”

“A little, towards the bottom. The nerves at the top- it’s all scarring. Why are you asking so many questions?” Sportacus ask, squirming a bit. It took him a moment to realize he had never told anyone this story before.

“I’ve never seen elf ears in person.”

“That’s not surprising.”

“The biology of different folk is interesting. Elves tend to be more private than a lot of the other folk so it’s almost impossible to discern what’s fact and what’s been made up. You should let me write a book-why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re a silly man, it’s nice to see you passionate about things other than cake and trying to run me out of town.”

“Does this mean you’ll help me?” Sportacus gave a halfhearted shrug. Really he shouldn’t tell anyone about it, there would be some backlash…But this was Robbie, his friend. He could do this to make him happy. After all, the man was willing to overlook his ears.

“I guess…if it means I’m allowed to spend time with you.”

“You can either way. I thought-“ Robbie floundered a moment, cheeks pinking. “Aren’t we dating now?”

“You want to date me?” Sportacus squeaked, sitting up in Robbie’s lap.

“Uh, yeah, Sportakook.” Robbie said giving that look that would suggest he thought the elf simple minded.

“Oh…Wha-“

“Shush, go to sleep. I’ll start your costume tomorrow so I’ll need you to pop by after playing with the kids…around dinner time?” Sportacus started at him a moment before nodding. “Right…Now stop looking so confused and go to bed.”

Sportacus nodded again before resting his head back on Robbie’s shoulder. The fingers were back in his hair and his eyes slowly closed. Apparently he had a boyfriend…

Sportacus was on the cusp of sleep, when he started to gently purr.

“You can purr!”

“Robbie,” Sportacus whined.

“Right, sorry. It’s past your bedtime.” Robbie said, pinching his cheek. Sportacus fake nipped at his fingers to get him to stop. Robbie’s laughs rumbled against Sportacus’ cheek and he found himself smiling. Sportacus closed his eyes again and was asleep in seconds.


End file.
